Depression, and Drug Adherence in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Care in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Depression stands out as the predominant risk factor among Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients. Depression and its association with drug adherence in T2DM patients are lacking in Bahrain. The current study aimed to examine the association depression in relation to drug adherence in T2DM in primary care centers in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This was a cross-sectional study that enrolled 455 people with T2DM. Data on demographics, risk behavior, and diabetes details were noted. Measuring tools such as patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) to measure depression severity, and General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS) were used to assess medical adherence respectively. Categorical variables and continuous variables were presented in a frequency table and mean ± SD/ Median (Min, Max) respectively. The data was analyzed using SPSS 24.0 software. The statistical significance threshold was set at p=0.05. The study involved participants with an average age of 54.5 ± 11.5 (M±SD) years. The frequency of depression based on PHQ-9 and medical adherence as per GMAS among T2DM patients was 30.5% and 79.1% respectively. There was a significant association between the prevalence of depression and adherence (x2 =25.03; P=0.001). Age (r=-0.121; P= 0.010), education (r=-0.096; P=0.040), family income (r=-0.101; P=0.031), physical activity (r=-0.193; P=0.001), and self-rated diabetes control within the last visit (r=-0.200; P=0.001) were significantly negatively correlated with PHQ – 9 scale. Likewise, age (r=-0.231; p=0.001), education (r=-0.123; p=0.008), nationality (r=-0.185; p=0.001), physical activity (r=-0.108; p=0.021), and self-rated diabetes control within the last visit (r=-0.139; p=0.003) were significantly negatively correlated with the GMAS scale. Our findings suggest that medical adherence is linked to depression. Age, height, education, family income, physical activity, and self-rated diabetes control in the previous visit are all important factors that are correlated to depression and drug adherence.